Who Will Fight
by PickingDaisies
Summary: 20 years after the 74th Hunger Games, nothing's changed. Only Peeta survived, and he failed to be the MockingJay. He thought everything was fine, until he found his relationship with Gale diminishing.


Who Will Fight

A/N: I actually had no plans for this to be a sequel story. But thank you yugiohftw for the idea. Also, thank you SaluteMeImLuis, Electric Ella, Yugiohftw, SacuraDrops141, Yakamaniac and all the unsigned people who reviewed.

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Chapter 1.

20 Years in the Future

Peeta sighed as he looked beyond the Horizon. He wished he could get away from this place. He felt caged in his own District. He felt guilty. Guilty because he could've ended all of this. He could've been the heroic MockingJay that saved the whole of Panem. All it took was one arrow. Just one. He should've shot it. He'd gotten enough practice. He could've done it, and ended all of this.

But then he thought of her. Katniss. At first, he had only said all those things to get sponsors for the Games in order to survive and come back to Gale. But as the years passed, he found himself missing Katniss. The way that she was so feminine but refused to play the role endeared him. Sometimes he wondered what would've happened if Katniss had survived. She no doubt wouldn't want to have killed Snow, but she would've done it anyways. Because if there's one thing Katniss isn't, it's selfish. Even when she had nothing to give, she would find a way to give. Whether it was only a smile, she always gave something back to everyone.

If she had survived, maybe Gale would be happier. He doesn't tell me, but I can tell he misses her. The first few months were the worst. I'm not sure how he did it, but he managed to love me. Me. The one who murdered his best friend. Sometimes I feel like if Katniss had survived, he wouldn't have given it two thoughts and married her. We could've been married by now if it wasn't for him. Homosexuality isn't as badly treated as it is now. Dozens of people in the Capitol are getting issued marriage licenses for gay marriage by the minute.

I'm not sure, but I think he's embarrassed to be seen with me in public. He tells me I'm home for my safety, but I know for a fact that the village has long since forgiven me. He doesn't know it, but on some mornings when he goes to work in the mines, other villagers come up to my home in the Victor's Village, where they get some pastries I give them. I don't charge them of course, they barely have money to spend, and most of this stuff is given to me for free. And whatever I pay for doesn't affect me much. When you're making more money a week than you can spend in a month, it doesn't really seem to matter what you do with it.

Gales coming back, I can hear his footsteps on the porch. But then they stop, and I can hear his voice mutter something. No doubt he's wishing she would've come back instead of me. Sometimes it hurts that I doubt us this way, but lately, he hasn't done anything to reassure me of his feelings. I love him, always have, always will. But I'm not sure I can say the same for him. He doesn't do any of the small things anymore. He used to bring me a rock from the mines he'd think was beautiful because it reminded me of him. Those stopped coming years ago.

I wonder how he still works in those mines. He's a 38 year old man, and still he wants to work. I think he just wants to get away from me.

"Hey, Peet," he says. I turn around to face him, and look into his eyes. The gleam that used to be there when he looked at me before has vanished, leaving no traces of it. It's like it was never even there.

He leans in to kiss me, but he pulls away before I can deepen it. He hasn't kissed me for longer than two seconds in the past 10 years. Heck, he barely kisses me. Once a day basically. Sometimes I'm lucky if I get two.

"Hey," I mutter, disappointed. It hurts to know he doesn't care anymore. I understand that maybe he misses Katniss and all, but god damn it I'm his boyfriend, and I'm still here. And I deserve all the love and care he wishes he could give her

In a way, I understand him. I too, have deep feelings for Katniss, and I regret letting the hybrids maul her, and I kill myself every night over it, but I still care for him. I still try and give him all of my attention. I still try to keep the flame going. Most days it seems so futile, I rarely try to now. If he wants to walk out at any time, there's a door on every side of this house, and he can use it.

He comes back downstairs wearing some fresh clothes, and mutter something about going out. Before he can leave the door though, I call to him.

"Gale," my voice is sad and shaky, and I can tell he notices it.

"Yeah, Peat?" he questions, as he steps into the kitchen.

I take a deep breath, before releasing the question that's been eating at me for over 20 years. It's crazy how long I've been able to keep it bottled up inside.

"Do you still love her?"

He looks at me in disbelief. "O-o-of course not, Peat. Where'd this come from?" he says a little too quickly. Questions rise inside of me, but I don't ask them. Not today.

"Where you going?" I ask. Not really interested, just wanting to know where.

"Just going out to the Square," he replies nonchalantly. The Square. That's exactly where Haymitch used to go to get drunk.

It hurts. It hurts to know that the only way he can stand to be in the same house as me is when he's drunk.

I walk over to him, and wrap my arms around his neck. He tenses, before taking hold of my waist. He pushes me away, and I think the hurt is evident in my eyes when he looks into them.

"What's gotten into you lately, Peat? I'm hurt, and I'm grieving, and all you want is to be on top of me. You barely give me space. My best friend just died, Peeta. Can't you give at least _some_ time alone?"

I feel my blood boil with anger, and before I can stop myself, I let all of my feelings out. "_Just died_, Gale? I'm sorry, but what fucking year do you think we're in? Katniss died over twenty years, Gale! Get over it! Her family's moved on, I moved on, the whole fucking town moved on. Why can't you, Gale? Why can't you give me the smallest bit of attention? I feel like I'm lucky to see you for more than ten minutes a day, Gale. That hurts, it hurts me so much. I want the old Gale back, the Gale I had after the Games. The one who held me close to him all those nights where I'd wake up terrified from my never ending nightmares. The one who loved me so much, and always wanted to see me near. Where'd that Gale go? I miss him. I _need_ him."

Gale looks at me, though his face looks stoic, emotionless. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but it trembles, and I see tears well up in his eyes.

"Peeta, I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore. That Gale died as soon as you killed her. I tried to be there for you after the Games because I knew you needed it. I tried to be the person you needed. And god knows how much it hurt, Peeta. I knew I told you to try and come out alive, but I didn't mean to _kill her. _You _knew_ what she meant to me, Peat. You knew it would kill me to see that. Yet you did it. Where you trying to break me, Peeta? Was that your plan? Break me so you could try and come fix me? Well, I guess your fucking plan backfired. I'm going to the Square. Leave me alone."

I don't understand where I went wrong. I was the perfect house wife for him. I always had food for him when he got home from work. Did his laundry, cleaned his house, laid out his clothes for him in the mornings. And then this happens. He just basically confirmed to me that he feigned more than half of our relationship. And he just goes from super emotional when talking about Katniss, to being strong and hard afterwards.

His hand reaches for the door, when I stick my hand out to grab it. I'll be damned if I let him go without a fight. But ultimately, it's not my decision to make. It's his, and his only. There's not much I can do. But I open my mouth, and I tell him.

"Just know that if you walk out this door tonight, it might not be open when you get back."

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Cliff-hanger, Guys. How's that for a comeback?

Please, in the reviews, tell me what you'd like Gale's reaction to be, stay with Peeta, or leave.


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